If you have a garden there are lots of ways to encourage a range of plants and wildlife in it, even if it's very small.
Below you'll find Dr Christopher Betts's top ten tips for turning your own garden into a more eco-friendly zone.
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The world is full of serious environmental problems which rightly or wrongly, many of us feel we can't do much about. However, you can do something towards creating an eco-friendly environment in your own back yard. So why not give it a go?!
If you have a garden there are lots of ways to encourage a range of plants and wildlife in it, even if it's very small. Below you'll find Dr Christopher Betts's top ten tips for turning your own garden into a more eco-friendly zone. | ||
| 1. Have a bird table. | |||
| 2. Have a pond. | |||
| 3. Try to avoid slug pellets, aphid sprays, herbicides and pesticides. | |||
| 4. Use a fine-mesh netted caged around fruit and vegetables to keep pests out. | |||
| 5. Don’t burn – make compost! | |||
| 6. Go for the greatest possible variety in your garden design and plantings. Lots of habitats and many different kinds of plants will greatly increase the richness of the wildlife. | |||
| 7. Choose plants for berries, seeds and fruit as well as flowers. | |||
| 8. Aim for flowers all through the year as a nectar and pollen source. | |||
| 9. Put up bat, bird, insect and other boxes (obtainable from many suppliers or build your own. | |||
10. Don’t be too tidy (wildlife needs places to live and hide, micro-habitats such as a weedy corner, hollow stems left on herbaceous plants in winter, a pile of leaves, ivy left on trees, etc.).
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11. Keep a garden wildlife diary. Learn to identify the species you see and keep records.
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| Copyright Christopher Betts Environmental Biology 2006 |